


a great tale

by laurengraywills



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Badass Mikasa Ackerman, Betrayal, Child Annie Leonhart, Commander Erwin Smith, Cute Bertolt Hoover, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fake Character Death, Good Sibling Zeke Yeager, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Marley (Shingeki no Kyojin), Multi, Original Character(s), Protective Annie Leonhart, Reiner Braun Needs a Hug, Sassy Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Season/Series 01 Spoilers, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan-Typical Violence, Titan Eren Yeager, Zeke Yeager Has Issues, jaeger brothers, protective friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:32:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29938308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurengraywills/pseuds/laurengraywills
Summary: a world believed to be worth burning quickly became a world worth burning others for.
Relationships: Annie Leonhart/Original Male Character(s), Eren Yeager/Original Female Character(s), Jean Kirstein/Original Female Character(s), Mikasa Ackerman/Original Male Character(s), Reiner Braun/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	a great tale

_**"You are a warrior.** Do not become weak with silly emotions, Morana." _

Her teeth grit, sweat dripping down the side of them as she stood outside the wall- the wall that was now gaping with an open hole, titans pouring through it. Screams of horror echoed from the city within the walls, people begging for their life as they fell victim to the giant carnivores. She paid no mind to the horrifying screams, her fingers tapped on her legs as she stood beneath the steam as the all to familiar red, muscular body of the Colossal Titan evaporated, her sins along with it.

She was anxious, any longer out here without any protection and she too would fall to the man-eating monsters that had forced the civilization into submission. She didn't exactly want to die like that. "Bertholdt. Let's go." She hissed lowly, and just as she spoke the outline of the lanky, tall boy came from the steam, the deep marks of the transformation evident on his pale skin. She glanced over at the nonchalant blonde beside her, "Annie, you should go. We can't risk anyone seeing us all enter from out here." She told her.

Without another question, the blonde girl nodded. "Got it." she grumbled and with that, she was running through the gap in the wall, not looking sparing another glance back. 

"Morana." Bertholdt grimaced, gripping onto the wall beside them for support, he swallowed thickly, "That took so much out of me." He breathed heavily, sweat dripping down his face as he exhaustedly looked up at the girl in front of him.

She rolled her eyes, "Pain in my ass." She hissed taking long strides over to him, he mumbled curse words as she grabbed the taller boy, wrapping his arm around her neck as she leaned his weight onto herself so he could better stand. "Get it together. It's now or never, Ber." She glanced up at the exhausted boy before ducking under their hiding spot, running right into the city of where they'd just attacked.

Hell, it looked like literal hell. Titans of all different sizes ran freely along the streets, blood splattered the houses and streets and half eaten civilians were left along the sides of buildings, wailing in pain and begging for mercy. Sobs emitted from people unfortunate enough to have been caught in Titan's strong grasps while others fled in a hurry. Morana grimaced at the sight, but she had no time to waste. She needed to get Bertholdt and her out of the way of harm. 

She pushed past the injured, mourning and weak who were already too traumatized to go on. Wives, husbands and children sat at the demise of their loved once who had been crushed under flying debris from the damage in the wall. She ignored the pleas of those who were being lowered into Titan's jaws, and she ignored the prayers some people uttered out, begging for a God to save them.

She frowned. There was no God, and certainly not one who would be willing to save these people.

Before she knew it, she'd successfully avoided herself and Bertholdt getting caught and she was stood in line at a ferry. _By now Reiner should be coming._ She thought to herself, readjusting Bertholdt on her shoulder. They were ushering people onto the ferry's, people who were too injured to likely survive were tossed to the side for those who were uninjured, greedily taking any spot they could. 

"Hey, he's already half dead. Leave him here, kid." A man grumbled down to Morana, suddenly catching her attention. He was dressed in a brown leather jacket with roses patched on the side, white pants and a white shirt underneath along with some odd gear she hadn't seen before. 

Nonetheless of his outfit and the reek of alcohol coming off of him, Morana narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Try to take him and I won't hesitate to sacrifice you to the titans myself." She spat at the man who's expression changed to pure horror as he stared down at the girl with fierce brown eyes. He didn't try to argue with her any further and he stumbled backwards, partially due to the alcohol that raced in his system, and the newfound fear of the young girl who had just threatened him.

By the time Morana and Bertholdt's time had came to board the ferry, she was exhausted of hearing the mumbling, sobs of the people around her, dirty and bloody from the monstrosity that had occurred. She was horrified, of course she was. She was human after all and no matter what disgusting history and stories were drilled into her mind about the people in this island, her heart still ached for their desperate, traumatized eyes. 

She slung Bertholdt down, sitting him against a wall on the ferry, his head threw back exhaustedly. "You're gonna have to work on your authority issues, you know. Especially because you're the one supposed to be looking out for us." Bertholdt warned her, his words breathy and dripping with exhaustion.

She frowned, "You shouldn't talk, you need to focus on resting." she ignored his comment, sitting slightly in front of him she frowned at all the people squished around the pair. Reaching forward lightly, she brushed some of the sweaty, black hair out of Bertholdt's face as his eyes fluttered shut. "When you're older it won't take so much out of you. You'll just have to get stronger." She told him with a soft smile.

Bertholdt smiled back, his eyes opening. "Hopefully so because I'd really like to master this whole transformation thing before my thirteen years are up." 

* * *

"We should wait a few years." Morana muttered as her fingers picked at the stale and hard bread. She frowned at it's consistency and how it was all the city they were in was able to offer. She wondered what kind of hell the people on this island had been suffering from, and she grimaced when she realized they had just made it worse.

Reiner pinched the bridge of his nose, glancing out of the alleyway they were in. "Alright, fine. So we wait two years, enlist and then what?" he questioned, his eyes shifting to bore into Morana.

She puzzled her face, "I don't know." 

"What do you mean you don't know? You're supposed to be the smart one here! The one planning this all out." Reiner gasped, his eyes wide.

"I'm eleven, Reiner! I'm not some genius adult yet!" She spat back, leaning forward and glaring at the blonde boy harshly, she felt a twinge of pain flow through her at the words, "We're kids. Kids who just committed mass murder so I apologize for not having all the answers right now, Reiner." She spoke softly, and the group all knew the truth to her words, and it hurt them. 

They were only kids. 

Morana leaned over to Bertholdt who was still rather exhausted and pale, small, shallow breaths coming from between his lips. She frowned, "Here, Ber. Have my bread." she offered, pushing the stale, tasteless bread into the young boys hands.

With a roll of her eyes, Annie objected, "Morana, you need to eat." 

"The Colossal Titan takes a lot more energy out. It's not like the Female titan or the Armored titan where you guys can shift repeatedly." Morana disagreed, smiling as Bertholdt took the bread from her hands. Her stomach was growling and hunger ate at her but she shrugged, "I'm not even that hungry." 

Suddenly aware of a presence, Reiner shot his head over to the beginning of the alleyway where a horrified soldier stood, eyes wide. It didn't take long for the group to realize he had certainly just heard their conversation. Morana widened her eyes. "Shit." Reiner cursed.

The soldier who was frozen in shock opened his mouth, "Hey-" before he could utter anymore out, Morana was on her feet, bounding toward the man with a determined look. Before the soldier could blink, she pulled him into the alley way. She was quick, and strong and it helped that the soldier was exhausted, starving and it utter shock and despite his struggling pleas of living, before long, Morana's hands were wrapped around his throat with his back on the ground.

She was weak at the moment but she had to be strong. She had to be strong for the three other kids sitting only feet away from her with concerned looks on their faces. She couldn't let this effect their mission. 

Her knuckles and fingertips went white as the man's face turned a beet red, his eyes strained and his arms flailing desperately to try and pry the young girl off of him, but she kept a strong hold on him, and as his consciousness began to fade, and soon after the life within in, the soldier couldn't put up anymore of a fight. His squirming limbs went limp, his desperate gasps for air halting and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

So, Morana stood, her hands shaking as she swallowed thickly, looking down at the dead man. The man she had just killed with her bare hands. "We need to move." 

* * *

**Two Years Later**

The two years passed and the four kids grew older. They grew stronger mentally and physically and their bond as well. They lived a false life, with false backstories and a false story about their parents deaths and where they came from. They learned about the place they had infiltrated, they'd seen their famine struggle, the abuse of power and the desperate attempts to defeat the titans from the Scout Regiment. They'd learned about the Wall Civilization's fate.

A fate they had caused. 

The loss of Wall Rose put a huge kink in meat production and so it became rare. On most nights, the four cooped up inside their small house on the outskirts of Wall Rose spooning tasteless, green soup into their mouth's and biting into hardened bread. Occasionally when they'd come across an extra few coins, they'd save it until they had enough to buy a slab of meat. 

Morana missed their warm, tasteful meals back in Marley. She missed the warmth of her bed and the technology they'd developed. Paradis was ages behind in terms of technology and such. Their days passed by training, learning about the Paradis culture and gathering information on people who could be threats. 

Annie and Morana were both thirteen now, Reiner and Bertholdt fourteen. Despite the boys being older, Annie and Morana often found themselves doing the dirty work. Travelling to the Underground for information, killing those who drew suspicious of the four barely teenagers. All the weight of the mission was put onto the two girls while the boys worked on their façade and perfected their backstories.

It was ironic to Morana how she was stuck with three titan shifters, though not chosen to be one herself. They said that she couldn't be a titan shifter, her blood just wasn't right for it. Not that she was a Marleyan or anything, she was just as Eldian as the people on the island they were tasked to destroy. It was just the blood her mother possessed that made it incapable for her to possess titan shifter abilities. 

At first she was confused why she was picked to go along on the mission, she wasn't a titan shifter, just a girl. But now she began to understand the three children she was tasked with watching over, were incapable of doing this without a sort of support. 

And she was that support. 

Anytime they were hungry, it was her rations she gave up. Anytime they felt a tinge of guilt for their destruction, it was her who missed sleep while she listened to them talk about it. Anytime a threat was posed, it was her who took care of it.

So now, she stood in a line, rows and rows of people in front of her and behind her all stood at attention. Her hands were sweaty, the sun glaring relentlessly. A tall man with hardened, traumatized eyes was terrorizing recruits, spitting in their face and demanding them to answer questions while they cowered and sweat in fear. The man, Keith Shadis was their training commander.

Morana found it amusing watching these kids be overcome with utter fear from Shadis while other's nervously blabbered to him. So far, a boy named Armin Arlet, from Shiganshina, the district they had demolished, a boy named Jean Kirstein who wished to be an MP, Marco Bott who also wished to be an MP, a boy named Connie Springer who saluted with the wrong fist and a girl named Sasha Blous who had been eating a potato fell victim to Shadis' screaming. 

The older, tough man skipped past Annie and Morana, perhaps it was from their uninterested glares, or the darkened, worn look in their eye. Whatever it was, Shadis didn't need to try and break them down like the others, they'd already faced hardships.

When they all broke away, the potato-girl, Sasha had been ordered to run laps until sundown and they were shown to the mess hall. Annie walked beside Morana, her hands shoved in her hoodie pockets. 

"Reiner sounded like an idiot when Shadis got in his face." Annie critiqued with the roll of her eyes as they each took their seats in the middle of the mess hall, Reiner and Bertholdt quickly joining them. 

Morana picked at the wood on the table, "Just be glad he didn't ask us about ourselves." She muttered lowly, her dark brown hair fell partially over her shoulders, her brown eyes scanning the room. She swallowed thickly, "The kids from Shiganshina," she nodded toward a table in the front where kids were gathered around a boy, Eren's table, questioning him about the horrors.

"Did you see the big one? The colossal?" A boy questioned excitedly, Connie Springer. They were battering him with questioned, and Eren answered, a look a horror swiping across his face when someone else asked what the titans were like. 

Reiner and Bertholdt didn't glance back at the table, "You had your hoods up when you were fleeing to the ferries, didn't you?" Reiner questioned, his spoon picking up minimal amounts of soup as he slurpped on it, his eyes angled up at Morana.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm not an idiot. They're probably too traumatized to even remember half the events and people around them. All they remember is death." She responded, taking a deep breath in. "I feel like I should remind you we're here on a mission, not to mingle and get attached to anyone." She narrowed her eyes at Reiner, "Got it?" 

Her eyes glanced back at the boy who was telling his story of the Shiganshina attack- Eren Jaeger. 

She thought back to the Zeke back home, the two shared last names but of course that must be a coincidence. After all, Zeke wasn't the only one who shared a last name with one of the Eldian's here on Paradis Island. She after all shared a last name with Mikasa. 

* * *

**days later**

"Your hair is so pretty!" Christa Lenz smiled, her feet dangling over the edge of the bed as she looked at Morana who was slightly shocked by the girls sudden compliment. Christa blushed lightly, "Sorry, that was kind of weird but it's so thick and curly. I've never seen anyone's hair so healthy." She continued to compliment, her large blue eyes boring into Morana.

With a slight smile, Morana spoke, "Thanks. I think I'm going to cut it though." She responded and Christa's eyes went wide.

"What? Why? It's so pretty." Christa was suddenly stood, leaning over Morana and running her hand through her hair, "I bet if you just tie it back they'll let you keep it." She frowned, roping he fingers in Morana's hair, "I could braid it!" she giggled, her voice sweet and soothing.

She was different than Annie who Morana had been so used to talking to. Christa was sweet, her voice soft and her eyes genuine and innocent. She'd never been talked to with such a childish tone and it painfully reminded her that her innocence and childhood was ripped away from her. 

Morana swallowed thickly, glancing over at Annie who was laid on her own bed, her eyes boring into a book, uninterested. Morana looked up at Christa, "That's alright, I've always wanted to see what I look like with short hair." Morana declined, watching as Christa's face fell but then suddenly it lit up again.

"Can I help you cut it?" 

Gritting her teeth, Morana wanted to get away from Christa. She couldn't stand the girl's innocence, or her kindness. She couldn't stand how comforting Christa was, it irked her. She couldn't allow herself to get attached to anyone, just as she'd said to Reiner, it would only effect her performance and her growing pity for the people of Paradis island.

But, despite everything inside her screaming 'No', Morana grinned, "Yeah, please." She let out a light laugh and Christa squealed with excitement, grabbing Morana's hand and pulling her to the bathroom in their barracks.

"I've never cut hair before but you'll look good with any length hair, Mor!" Christa grinned and Morana puzzled her face at the nickname, "Oh hey, Mikasa!" Christa's attention drew to the black haired girl who was holding scissors to her own hair, her face puzzling.

Mikasa turned to the two girls, "Oh, hello, Christa and Morana." Mikasa greeted, her hair was choppily cut, and a small blush rose to her cheeks, "What are you two doing." 

"We're cutting Morana's hair! Do you need some help as well?" Christa questioned the black hair girl, excitement glowing in her eyes. Mikasa glanced over at Morana, before nodding lightly with a sheepish, small smile. 

The warrior inside Morana screamed at her to leave. It screamed at her that creating these relationships with her fellow cadets was dangerous and would only effect her negatively. However, the child inside Morana screamed at her to enjoy these newfound friends, to enjoy the small childish entertainment they gave her. She'd never had any female friends like Christa. Annie and Piek weren't always the most open and grinning children.

How could they be? The Marleyan's forced the girls into weapons. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw?


End file.
